Community Discussions
Why does English make everything so complicated?
As a native Chinese speaker, I find English absolutely wild sometimes. It feels like English invents a completely new word for every little thing, even when there’s no need! For example, in Chinese: * A male cow is called a "male cow." * A female cow is called a "female cow." * A baby cow is called a "baby cow." * The meat of a cow is called "cow meat." Simple, right? But in English: * A male cow is a *bull*. * A female cow is a *cow*. * A baby cow is a *calf*. * The meat of a cow is *beef*. Like, look at these words: bull, cow, calf, beef. They don’t look alike, they don’t sound alike, and yet they’re all related to the same animal! Why does English need so many different terms for things that could easily be described by combining basic words in a logical way? Don’t get me wrong, I love learning English, but sometimes it feels like it’s just making things harder for no reason. Anyone else feel this way?
Native speakers, how do you describe this picture?
You could use slangs, adjectives, nouns and even full sentences. As a middle level non native speaker, I would say:”An ancient style Japanese drawing of waves. It shows the roaring sea while preserving the pure Japanese aesthetics.” Don’t mind my mistakes. Sometimes I can spot it myself but most of times it’s just the limited knowledge holding me back.
I'm ghost. (I'm leaving.)
I know the word "ghost" can be used to mean ignoring someone's text message or disappearing. Examples: -He got ghosted. -I'm ghosting him. -He's weird, I'd say just ghost him. But according to this textbook "I'm ghost." means "I'm leaving." I wonder how true that is or how common that is. Because I've never heard anyone say it. I assume it's a AAVE slang? And In my head "I'm ghosting." would sound better. "I'm ghost." Sounds like he's saying his name is ghost. Let me hear your thoughts, Anything will help! Thanks a lot!
What’s the hardest English word for you to pronounce? 😅
I’ve been learning English for a while, but some words just refuse to come out right! For me, “rural” and “squirrel” are a nightmare. No matter how much I practice, they still sound weird when I say them. What about you? What’s the hardest English word you’ve struggled to pronounce? Let’s see who has the most impossible one!
Should the correct option be A or C?
https://i.redd.it/hkj8q3eh9nie1.png
What do you call this hand gesture?
https://i.redd.it/dfpugrsxmxhe1.png
Do native speakers have trouble understanding "CAN" and "CAN'T"?
Sometimes when people say 'can't', the T sounds so subtle that I can't really tell if they are saying 'can' or 'can't', especially in songs when sometimes they're singing fast. And well, that's a pretty important information wheter the person is saying one or the other since it changes the role meaning of the phrase xD. For instance, in the song "Blind" by Korn, there's this part when the singer says "I can't see, I'm going blind", but in my first few listens (like the first 10) I thought he was saying 'I CAN see'. Does anyone else have the same problem?
Why is it "two hours' journey"?
I usually pass C1 tests but this A2 test question got me curious. I got "BC that's how it is"when I asked my teacher.
What do you think about this
This is a random problem I just saw on instagram. The answer is the first one but i personally think the second one also works fine here
How would you call that type of reckless driving ?
In Russian it's called "checkers" , the closest alternative in English slang I could find was "hoon" but it doest quite match the meaning.